Unlocking the Future of Payments: UPI Credit Card Transactions in India 🚀 🚀

QR, QR, every where,

And all the cards did shrink;

QR, QR, every where,

Payments done in a blink.

Maybe we are still a few years away from the norm of hoverboards and flying cars, but one thing that we are right in the middle of, is the future of payments. And the cradle of it is, undoubtedly, India.

Welcome to the future of financial transactions in India, where your friendly neighbourhood payment instruments are undergoing massive digital makeover. Be it your account transfers or payments via credit cards (Or CCs). Limiting the scope of this article just to credit cards on UPI (Unified Payments Interface) from here on, the confluence of credit cards and UPI has revolutionised the way India spends. Let’s delve into the wonders of UPI credit card payments in India, and why this technological marvel is worth all the buzz.

UPI: The New-Age Genie 🧞 🧞

Imagine having a genie in your pocket, but instead of granting wishes, it makes your payments happen with just a few taps; Like magic. That’s UPI for you.

Launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, UPI has transformed the payment landscape with its seamless, real-time transactions. Initially linked to bank accounts, UPI has expanded its magic touch to far and beyond, with credit cards being one of the first ones to be added as a new dimension to its utility. At present, the only card network that has access to this is RuPay.

UPI Meets Credit Cards: The Perfect Right Swipe 🥹💫

Traditionally, credit cards and UPI have operated in parallel universes. While credit cards operated in the universe full of credit benefits and rewards, UPI came from the universe where ease and speed of instant payments directly from bank accounts was a norm. With the 2 universes finally meeting each other more than a year back with RuPay credit card at the heart of it, a new possibility was born that combined the best of both the worlds. Let’s see why UPI credit card payments are a game changer.

Awesome Benefits to Rule Them All 😋😋

Here are a few reasons why UPI credit card payments are the masterstroke of today’s India, and why it’s all awesome:

Seamless Linking

You can easily link your RuPay credit cards to your existing UPI accounts. Additionally, there are also such platforms that directly issue UPI-linked RuPay credit cards for you as well.

Enhanced Security

UPI’s robust security protocols, including two-factor authentication (2FA) - unlocking the app and the UPI PIN, SIM binding and device binding as well as single-click payments, ensures transactions are as safe as they are swift. Additionally, the check for existing cards for the selected bank linked to your mobile number ensures that your unique identifier is unique in identifying you.

Wider Acceptance

From the QR codes in the remotest parts of the country to the online universe, UPI has a widespread acceptance across millions of merchants, much larger than the conventional credit cards and the machines.

Rewarding Experience

You can enjoy rewards and cashbacks on the credit cards themselves, but additionally take benefit of rewards and offers and the seamlessness of UPI that are being curated, centered around UPI credit card transactions.

Easier Budget Management

Using your credit card via UPI can help streamline your financial management. With all your transactions recorded in one place, it's easier to track and categorize your spending. Say goodbye to the days of juggling between credit card statements and bank transactions.

Instant Payments

Remember that circle that kept going on and on and on? Or the slip that comes out of the machine that says can’t process the transaction right now? Gone are those days of waiting for credit card payments to be processed. With the success rates that UPI offers today, it ensures that your payments are instantaneous, making it perfect for both online and offline transactions.

No More Shuffling the Deck

Forgot your wallet at home? Or don’t like carrying the extra weight in your wallet? No probs! As long as you have your smartphone, you can make payments without needing your physical credit card. It's like having your wallet on cloud number 9.

No More Dance of the Wallet, or the OTP

Remember the dance that we do when we are waiting for the OTP; or the transaction success message; or the “I forgot my wallet” tango. Those days are gone! Your mobile phone, the powerhouse it already is, is the go to thing for you know. Makes you look futuristic and sophisticated, no?

Setup the Autopay

You can also set up UPI autopay mandates using your RuPay credit card linked to your VPA to ensure your next Netflix bill is automatically debited from your UPI linked credit card.

Complete Transactional Transparency

You get end to end transaction level transparency of all your transactions done via UPI credit card right in the app. No more juggling between transactions to tally your credit card bill. Moreover, you can also access your key information, like remaining credit limit, total outstanding etc on a real time basis.

Getting Started with RuPay Credit Card on UPI (Or UPICC) 🏃🏃

There are 2 ways in which you can tap into the awesome world of RuPay credit cards on UPI: Either by linking your existing RuPay credit card to your existing VPA(s), or by going on platforms like Kiwi that provide RuPay credit card linked accounts (Of course based on your eligibility 😅), both of which are pretty straight-forward processes.

This is what the process of linking your RuPay credit card looks like:

1. Open your favourite UPI app, and browse to the add account section. In most of the cases, your app would already be showing an explicit button for linking RuPay credit card. Click on that.

2. Next, you'll be selecting the bank that has issued your RuPay credit card. Make sure you select the bank that has the same mobile number linked to your RuPay credit card as your UPI app. If not, then you’ll not be able to link your RuPay credit card.

3. If all goes well, in the next screen, you’ll see your masked card details, and will be prompted to set up the UPI PIN for the same.

4. Next, you’ll be prompted to input your card details as well as the expiry date, which is a way of validation needed before moving on to setting up your UPI PIN.

5. Next, you’ll be prompted for a one time password (OTP) received on your phone, and after entering it, you’ll be asked to enter your card PIN for validation (Not CVV but PIN), and then you’ll be asked to set up your UPI PIN (You can set it same as your normal UPI PIN for ease, or a different one).

6. And you're all set 🚀🚀! From here on, while scanning the QR code or while selecting your favourite UPI app on your favourite online platforms (where merchants accept UPICC), you can start using your RuPay credit card on UPI.

7. Just note that in such cases, the default option selected will be your primary bank account and you’ll have to switch to the linked RuPay credit card on the account options page.

For the second type, that is, using platforms like Kiwi having primary offerings as UPI linked RuPay credit cards, you first need to setup your account. The process is something like:

Setup → Verify → Apply → KYC, and done ✅

The first and foremost requirement will be the account setup itself, followed by the usual norm of SIM and device binding, followed by your credit checks and measures to establish your eligibility for the credit card they have to offer. Lastly, you need to complete the KYC as well. Once you jump through all the hoops and finally land on the “Congratulations!” page, you are all set to go.

What About the Merchants' Side? 🤔

From the day of its rollout to where we are today, UPICC has come a really long way. See, the main concern that merchants (Which is the acquiring side, or the side that processes / receives the money) had was that they were not used to being charged for payments via UPI, and when UPICC came up, suddenly their books started going ding.. ding.. ding..

However, the key factor here was that UPICC, essentially, was a credit card in the end. Slowly and steadily, folks started realising the same, and also came to the realisation that this opens up to potentially new avenues of offering blazing speed payment options to their end customers. Thanks to the drive from NPCI to increase the adoption (Combining the scale of UPI and benefits of credit card), the UPICC transactions have seen a gradual increase.

Moreover, on the acquiring side, understanding the need of the market and the merchants, NPCI has been working on enhancing the overall experience of UPICC, be it in terms of offering lucrative commercials to working on product level features that eases the merchant’s lives. RuPay credit cards themselves are coming in power-packed packets, with more and more platforms building specifically for this use case. This furthers the reach and use-case of the instrument, thus making it more and more lucrative for merchants as well, gearing up to offer more and more payment options on UPI rails.

Certain Caveats 😬

For online shopping, not all UPICC apps would be available directly on your favourite shopping destination, making the discovery part a bit difficult. In absence of such mechanisms that makes discoverability easier and simpler, often such players have to rely on the OG of UPI payments, that is, the collect request (where you enter your UPI ID and wait for the notification / SMS for the payment request). NPCI, however, is making strides in getting discoverability as much simplified as possible by the recent circulars that advocate for smart intent (The option with which all UPI ready apps on your phone gets shown on the platform you’re paying on), especially for Android devices (as iOS doesn’t support smart intent yet).

For desktop based flows, they have made a point to make the QR codes the main source of acquiring the transactions. At the end of the day, it’s about giving the users a full buffet of choices to select their preferred / favorite / star-of-the-eyes apps to make the payment.

Furthermore, considering that at the end of the day, it’s, prima facie, a credit card transaction only, the below restrictions are in place (And for good measures and reasons):

1. Cash withdrawals are not permitted

2. Card to card (C2C) payments are not permitted (Duhh!)

3. P2P (Peer to peer) and P2PM (Refers to small merchants and unorganised retail sector) are not permitted

4. You cannot combine the credit card balance and your bank balance to make the payment as both of them appear as a funding source, and you can only choose either of them (Just in case that wasn’t clear 😅)

Lastly, since the transactions are ultimately happening via UPI rails, the transaction limits are governed by that of UPI. The standard transaction limit comes to be INR 1 lakh per transaction per day. However, the same can be raised to INR 2 lakhs per transaction for verified merchants in certain categories.

Although… A Teeny-Tiny Tale of Caution 🫣

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

With the power of UPI, you might feel like a payments superhero, but that power comes with a tinge of precaution. Some of the crucial ones are as follows:

Don’t fall for the lure 🎣

Let’s just say it again what everyone’s been saying since ages- You cannot receive money by scanning a QR code. Be careful of any such lures that promise you of instant riches, but are actually meant to take away your hard-earned money from you.

Credit is good, but the trap is also real 🪤

Using credit instruments like credit card is liberating. But the catch is that you have to be really careful with them, lest you fall in the credit trap, where you live from one billing cycle to another. The ease and seamlessness of usage comes with the responsible and planned spends. Don’t go on a shopping frenzy just because you can now see your sweet credit card a few taps away on your favourite shopping destination. Take a deep breath, think and then decide. As a friend once told me, “have faith in the power of delayed gratification”.

Be a responsible data owner 🦸

Safeguard your data, especially personal and identity related data. Be the data superhero.

Stay vigilant, stay awesome 🧐

Stay on top of what advisories your bank or UPI apps are showing, check the source of truth, and most importantly, be extra careful of them Whatsapp messages (And any other messages / emails etc) that you get, whatever the source may be, especially those that contain unknown links or files.

The Road Ahead 🛣️

The integration of UPI and RuPay credit cards is just the beginning. As more financial institutions and merchants embrace this fusion, we can expect a landscape where digital payments become even more seamless and ubiquitous. Already UPICC is growing at a tremendous pace, month-on-month. Innovations like UPI credit card payments are paving the way for a cashless, efficient, and inclusive economy.

Moreover, the government’s push towards digital India ensures that infrastructure improvements and regulatory support will continue to bolster the adoption of such technologies. We might even see further enhancements such as loyalty programs integrated directly into UPI platforms, personalised spending insights, more varied payment options and many more.

Final Thoughts 🫡

UPI RuPay credit card payments are a game-changer, merging the convenience of instant payments with the benefits of RuPay credit cards. This innovation ensures you can enjoy the perks of both systems while enhancing security and ease of use.

So, the next time you’re out and about, or shopping online, give a nod to this dynamic duo — UPI and your credit card. It's the future of payments, and it’s here to make your financial life simpler, more rewarding, and definitely more fun.

With the path becoming more and more progressive towards digital payments, and the way UPI has been a poster child of it, the future of payments via UPI looks really promising, with the possibilities of anything from a credit line to EMIs to any other payment method that you can think of – UPI is gonna take the center stage.

Welcome to a new era of payments. Tap, pay, and play on!